


Childhood

by Geekspren



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, kiddies getting to be cute before the trauma conga line comes for them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 09:16:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15992231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geekspren/pseuds/Geekspren
Summary: Shinji is taken in by the Soryu family after his mother's death.  A young Asuka has some opinions on this.





	Childhood

**Author's Note:**

> So I was clearing out old emails and I found this ancient relic I apparently wrote back in late 2012. I squinted REAL HARD at first, not recognizing it, before realizing that yes, I wrote this. Somehow. A lucky find, because I still like it. It's rough in some areas, but I left them as they were.
> 
> This was going to be the start of a five chapter series exploring Shinji and Asuka growing up together until her own mom turns to Eva goo, featuring disturbing doll scenes, child neglect, and trauma! And then a follow up series when they're older. There are various WIPs, story notes, and plans I've found of this in old folders as I've dug around. But they're all rather messy. 
> 
> Unfortunately, though I'm fond of Eva, I'm not particularly interested in it anymore. Or at least just not interested in the Asushin ship. Alas! Enjoy this little short story anyway, which I think stands well enough on its own.

The boy's eyes were blue.

Darker than hers, an almost brown. It was hard to tell at first, with his bowed head and mess of brown hair always blocking her view, but that was their color. They had met her eyes for an instant before immediately shrinking away. Whatever he saw on the ground demanded his complete attention. She frowned at the way he shuffled, clenching the hem of a half tucked shirt that seemed a size too large. A lone suitcase stood by his side, his only companion.

The black suited man that had been with him left as soon as her family approached. He exchanged some words with her parents, and then was gone, leaving the small boy even tinier in the mass of people that surrounded them, milling and bustling to catch flights of their own.

"Asuka, this is Shinji." Mama said. "He will be staying with us for a little while, so I want you to be good."

She nodded. _He needs a place to stay_ , she remembered Papa saying. _We're going to look after him_.

But why? Why was he here? Where did he come from?

_Japan_ , her memory whispered. Was it Papa that said that? The boy was from far away and now he was here. Why?

"Okay," she said. Then again, why did it matter? He looked boring.

_His mother was an old friend of mine_. Mama had said that.

Was?

More words spoken. Encouraging. Silence, and then a muttered reply. _Hello_. It must have been. He didn't know German. Weird.

Asuka huffed. What was she going to do with him? He shrunk into himself, hunched so tight as if he expected the ground to swallow him whole. It was irritating. Did he want to run away? It certainly looked like it, the way he cowered before her family. Honestly.

Well, if that was the case, Asuka wouldn’t let him.

Shoulders squared, Asuka advanced towards him and took his free hand in hers. The boy's eyes widened at the contact, staring at her, at their hands, unsure how to respond.

She rolled her eyes, turning back to Mama "Can we go home now?" she asked. A slight gnawing nibbled at her stomach; the sooner they returned the better.

Mama and Papa smiled, nodding. More words, more movement. They were on their way out.

Asuka tugged at the boy's hand. "C'mon. Let's go." He couldn't know her words, but he obeyed nonetheless, uncomplaining as she led him along, all but dragging him behind her.

The car ride back was a quiet one, occasionally broken by soft words from her parents. The boy – Shinji – remained silent next to her. Head bowed, the same as before, hands gripping the cloth of his shorts. She glanced at him sometimes, curious. He was so quiet.

He twitched when she poked him, head snapping towards her. A nervous gaze meeting a sharp one. "What's wrong with you?" she asked, harsh words even for her, "Um, I mean… Are you okay?"

He stared at her, his mouth working but not quite forming words. He turned away and mumbled something. _Sorry_? Right, Japanese. She scrunched her face, thinking. Her parents spoke it – well Mama did, Papa preferred English – but she was still learning. What was it she wanted to say? Oh yeah—

" _Are you stupid_?"

No that wasn't it. Not at all. Especially by the way he slumped. What were the words?

" _Are you okay_?" That was it, it had to be.

He perked up at that, just a little, turning back to her. Pleased to hear words he knew, probably. Nice ones this time. He looked at her funny, waiting for something. Did he think she was gonna bite him? Dummy. His eyes were guarded, wary. _Pretty_ , they looked a little like the ocean, but she quickly shoved the thought aside. Boys weren't pretty.

He shrugged his answer. " _I dunno_."

Tch, what was wrong with him? He was weird.

"Be patient, Asuka." Mama's voice reached her ears and made her crane her head toward the front of the car. Mama looked right back at her, watching them both fondly. Asuka dipped her head, a slight pink adorning her cheeks. Mama could always tell what she was thinking.

"Shinji is just nervous being in a new country. It's scary coming to a new place from so far away." Mama said in German. Papa said nothing, his focus on the road as he drove.  
  
She repeated her words in Japanese, " _Right, Shinji_?" She added, making Asuka look back at the boy next to her.

Shinji squirmed underneath the gazes of the two redheads. He didn't like attention. That much she could tell. She flushed slightly, feeling guilty. Asuka had been on trips to other places before, but always with her Mama and Papa. She tried imagining herself alone during those times and found she didn’t like it one bit.

" _Yeah_." Shinji mumbled, and said nothing more, her Mama turning back to the front, leaving him alone. He refused to look at Asuka now. An unpleasant twinge passed through her, but she ignored it. Shinji was wimpy and stupid looking, but he was all alone, probably just as confused as she was on why he was here. Besides, her Mama said to be nice, and good girls always listen to their mamas.

She poked him again. He didn't jump like last time, but his brow formed a V shape when he turned toward her. Maybe he didn't want to be bothered? Whatever. He was too gloomy.

" _How old are you_?" She asked. The foreign words slid out easier now as she switched her thoughts into another language. It felt slower and took longer to think of the words, but she could practice by talking to him. A lot of the time she mixed the Japanese and English she knew into her German, creating a language only her parents understood. It was difficult not to slip into that habit now, but doing that to him might, well, make his brain explode. Or something. If he didn't know German then she doubted he knew English either. How can someone only know one language?  
  
He didn't answer right away. It was a simple question, what was taking so long? Maybe he really was stupid. She shook the thought away. _Nice, I have to be nice._

" _I'm five_." He said quietly.

" _Oh, okay. I turn five next month_." He was older than her. That was dumb.

" _So why did you come here_?" She had asked her parents the same question, but their answers had been vague.

He needed a place to stay, he doesn't have a family, but wait he does, something about his mother, Mama and her were friends. Why send him away? Something about his mother… she had gone away. Away where?

She didn't understand and that made her fidget.

It must have been the wrong thing to say because he immediately clammed up. " _My, my father sent me_." She'd never heard someone sound so sad. He didn't say anything else, retreating back to silence.

A moment passed, Asuka’s gaze needling into his tiny frame, before she turned away and leaned back into her seat. Well now what? This boy was impossible. A complete mystery. And her questions still weren't answered. If he had a father, why was he with her family? Not knowing infuriated her.

But he wasn't going to answer, not now anyway. And pushing him just seemed… wrong.

He was going to live with her, Mama, and Papa now. Her family. Did that make him family too?

_Be good. He needs a place to stay. We're going to look after him. His mother was Mama's friend._

Yeah, she supposed that did make him family now. In a way. Just a little bit. It didn’t make them siblings or anything. And it’s not like you have to like your family anyway.

Asuka didn't know many people her age. She was home schooled, with her own private tutor tailored for her learning level. A level her tutor said that far exceeded the learning curve of other, average children. A true prodigy. A genius. She had beamed at the praise, and flaunted proudly to the world, whether it cared to notice or not.

But Mama and Papa were gone a lot, always busy with work in the U.N. Picking Shinji up was the first time they had all been together since…

Well, whatever. Their work was important. They were scientists, at least Mama was. Papa's job was a little different and related to security. But the things they worked on were world changing, life altering. And she, Asuka Langley Soryu, was their daughter. That too, she liked to flaunt.

But, still. No friends. Asuka's cousins didn’t count because they were dumb. They didn’t like playing with her and so she didn’t bother playing with them. None of them could keep up with Asuka anyway, too fast and too smart for any of them. Sometimes she saw the children of her parent’s co-workers. But they were all so… distant. She didn't care that much for any of them either. They kept her from boredom at times, which was nice, but that was all.

Shinji was new. He would be close by and around for… she didn't know how long. Forever maybe.

Asuka’s eyes shifted back to the boy huddled in his seat, meek and soundless. His small body torqued and hardened in an iron ball, a wall from those that tried to drag the mouse from its hole.

Forever sounded boring.

**Author's Note:**

> Fav part about this is finding this offhanded comment I must have scribbled afterward: 
> 
> "Writing a 5-year-old Asuka’s perspective is an indescribable, excruciating pain."


End file.
